


Rip and te[A]r

by MeetTheTank



Series: Flesh and Me[T]al [1]
Category: NieR: Automata (Video Game)
Genre: 2B goes a bit nuts, Action, Blood, F/M, Fights, Hurt/Comfort, No Spoilers, Short One Shot, don't touch the scanner boy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-25
Updated: 2017-07-25
Packaged: 2018-12-06 18:24:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11606352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeetTheTank/pseuds/MeetTheTank
Summary: They weren't looking into the eyes of a battle, or even an executioner model. They were staring down a monster who wanted nothing more than their head on a stick. When her rage subsided, nothing's was left of them but putrid meat and jagged metal.





	Rip and te[A]r

_Emotions are prohibited._

It's her prayer. Her mantra. Something she says so often others poke fun at her for it.

_Emotions are prohibited._

She says it when she scolds 9S for opening up to her. 

_Emotions are prohibited._

It's the furthest thing from her mind as she watches the deserter run him through the chest with a lance.

The only sound that escapes him is a weak, muffled gurgle. His eyes and mouth are wide open. Blood bubbles up from his throat to run down his pale lips, punctuated by desperate gasps for air. One hand lay limp by his side, while the other feebly grasps in 2B's direction. The deserter tears the lance from his chest followed by a spray of blood and the sick sound of ripping flesh, and 9S collapses onto the ground. 

The wet thud echoes in 2B's head as his fearful eyes made unwavering contact with hers. She can't move, even as he reaches towards her pathetically; a crippling feeling of helplessness washes over her as 9S fight against his own lungs. She had been too slow to reach him, too inattentive to realize that their target had been prioritizing him. The terabytes worth of combat data coursing through her systems don't budge at the sight. Her heart does.

"NINES!!"

All at once, the emotions she had kept buried within come crashing down on her. She wants to sob. She wants to lie in the piles of rubble and die. She wants to vomit. She wants to scream and cry until her throat is raw and bloodied. Yet above this boiling slurry of emotions, one feeling, one thought stands out from the rest. An unknown monster lying in the depths of 2B's code emerges; one that _burns_ white hot in the pit of her gut.

She wants to rip that deserter's _fucking head off. ___

____

"Alert: Black box temperature rising. Alert: Cardiac output at unacceptable levels. Alert-"

____

Pod 042's voice fades under the thunder of blood in her ears. Everything fades beneath her hyper fixation on the deserter. They turn towards her, their face mostly obscured by a hood, but 2B sees a dawning realization warp their features. She doesn't care what revelation they're having. She doesn't care that they're pointing the lance in her direction. Her gloves strain against her white knuckles as she nearly breaks the pommel of Virtuous Contract. A small part of her registers that she's shaking.

____

2B's lips curl back. She bares her teeth and _snarls_ ; a guttural sound more befitting to some predatory beast than a stoic android. Her teeth grind against each other, screaming at her to tear into the deserter's flesh and feel their bones crack under the pressure of her jaw.

____

Were she not consumed with fury, she might have been horrified at the thought.

____

The deserter takes a step back. 2B takes a step forward. Their eyes find something in 2B's expression. They take another step back. 2B launches herself at them, roaring and slashing at them. Though startled, the deserter parries each of 2B's strikes away. There's no room for error, one solid blow from this enraged combat model would be the end of them. 

____

She's strong. Even before going blind with rage each swing of her sword either made the air sing or made them stumble backwards.  She's stronger now, yes, but she's predictable. There's so much power behind her swings they can see her wind up seconds before her actual strike. The deserter's best option was to stay on the defensive and let their attacker tire themselves out, but each parry was costing them ground. Soon they'd be against the wall. The small bit of luck on their side is that her Pod seems more content spitting out alerts than firing at them. 

____

There's an opening after the deserter parries an overhead strike and they immediately take advantage of it. They thrust their lance at her repeatedly. Though only some make contact it throws the combat model off balance enough for them to press their advantage. They stab her sword hand and twist up, sending the white katana soaring away from its owner. Using the leftover momentum they throw a powerful kick into her face. The heel of their boot slams into her nose with a satisfying crunch and the combat android stumbles backwards, clutching her face with one hand. 

____

They both take a second to catch their breath. 2B is certain her nose and part of her jaw are broken, as blood pours from her face and runs down her neck. She no longer grinds her teeth; her mouth hangs agape as shaking breaths make her whole body heave. It only serves to fuel her anger further. She curls her fingers around her visor in a twisted claw, and rips off the black cloth. She never realized she was crying to begin with, but now the tears flow down her cheeks and mix with the blood that frames her twisted predatory grimace. 

____

The combat model has no weapon save for her fists. She can almost _smell_ their fear.

____

The deserter clings to their lance with their fading strength. They know that their life hangs on their next move. 

____

They thrust their lance, aiming for her center of mass. She shifts to the side and does something they did not expect. 2B grabs the lance, right underneath the blade. There's a split second between the two where their eyes meet. Theirs are wide with shock, and hers narrowed and full of _hate._

____

_No...it's more than that._ They think to themselves. It's far more primal than anything they've ever seen. They're not staring into they eyes of a battle model, or even an executioner model. 

____

They're staring down a monster that wants nothing more than their head on a stick.

____

In a blur of erratic movements, 2B rips the lance from their hand, casts it behind her, then throws her whole body into the deserter's abdomen.  Both androids crash to the ground and the back of the deserter's head cracks against stone. Their systems are scrambled for a moment, but that moment is all it takes for 2B to straddle them, pinning them under her weight.

____

Before they have a chance to fight back, 2B screams and throw her fist into their jaw. Their lips split open in three places, blood stains their teeth and her gloves. She punches them again. Their nose breaks in a similar manner to hers. They cry out.

____

Again.

____

Their jaw fractures audibly. They try to fight back through the pain, but their attempts are pathetically feeble.

____

Again.

____

2B registers a sharp pain in her hand. A tooth sticks through her glove and into her skin. They plea for mercy.

____

Again.

____

More blood splashes onto her clothes. She doesn't care.

____

Again.

____

They've stopped making noise.

____

Again.

____

Their jaw collapses in on itself. Most of their teeth are stuck in her hand.

____

Again.

____

She can't make a fist anymore. She doesn't care.

____

Again.

____

Sparks fly out from their eye sockets as the rest of their face crumbles.

____

Again.

____

They're not moving anymore.

____

Again. 

____

She isn't sure where their blood ends and hers begins.

____

Again.

____

She can't feel her arm anymore.

____

Again.

____

".....be!"

____

Again.

____

There's so much blood.

____

Again.

____

"2B!!"

____

Again.

____

"2B STOP!!!"

____

9S is on his feet a yard or so away from the gruesome scene. His coat is open and his hand clutches where the lance had struck him. It's hard for him to breath and move, the staunching gel makes even simple things difficult for him now. There's a bit of sickly yellow gel visible on his chest where his undershirt is torn open. Pod 153 alerts him to lie back down but is ignored.

____

He's never seen her like this. Blood covers her face, down to her chest. The bridge of her nose bends off to the side in a horrific manner and oozes blood constantly. Her hand is barely recognizable. Her fingers twitch and bend in unnatural angles with metallic bones jutting out where knuckles should be. Sparks fly out of the exposed wiring each time one of her fingers try to move. 

____

And her eyes. He half expects to see the tell tale red shine of a logic virus, and he's not sure if he's relieved or horrified when he sees stormy blue. He's never seen her show so much emotion before. As a scanner model he easily picks up the faintest flickers of the ones that fly past in an instant.

____

She's scared, ecstatic, furious, and despondent all at once. She looks like she's about to keel over. Her eyes flick down to the deserter's face, which is now nothing more than a pile of meat and metal, and flick back to him.

____

"Nin-...9S." She says in a voice that wavers with exhaustion and shame. "You're...alright."

____

He nods slowly, as if any sudden movement might frighten her. "Yeah, yeah I'm alright. Pod 153-"

____

She rises to her feet and his words catch in his throat. Her legs are shaking, barely able to hold her weight. Pod 042 warns her of sustained injuries in multiple areas, but she stumbles towards him anyway.

____

He's _afraid_ of her, she can see that even as her vision fades. He has every right to be. The way he flinches away from her steps towards him is obvious enough even in this state. Still, he moves to meet her, the arm that isn't holding onto his chest is cautiously held out to her. 

____

2B's legs give out beneath her. She falls to her knees and 9S rushes forward to hold her tentatively. Her breathing is soft and shaky as she leans her head on his shoulder, staining his undershirt and coat with blood and tears. 

____

"I'm...glad." She whispers. It's a sound that's barely heard by him over their Pod's spitting out alerts for maintenance and the violent malfunctioning of her ruined hand. Her shoulders shake occasionally. 9S realizes she's crying when hot tears fall on his leg. He thinks he understands now. She's kept all her emotions behind a bulwark of stoicism. Once she let one out, the rest overpowered her ability to hold them back, leaving her this broken shell. What can he say to her? Should he just hold her until she calms down? There's a part of that's still scared of her, and that part keeps his movements and words soft and slow. Like he's coaxing a startled animal out of hiding and a wrong move would send them sprinting away. Or attack him.

____

He smooths a hand over her hair. "Sssh...It's alright. You're alright." 

____

2B places her ruined hand on his, the one that holds the wound on his chest. The rest of her body lies limp save for the occasional sob that escapes her. They sit there for what seems like hours, 9S providing what little comfort he can to 2B. He keeps offering little affirmations of their safety while stroking her hair. It doesn't feel like he's doing much, but she does seem to calm down eventually.

____

Once she stops shaking, 9S leans back a bit to look at her face. She won't look him in the eyes, instead fixating on the ground off to the side. He's taken aback by the amount of vulnerability she's showing to him. This highly sophisticated combat model looks so...fragile it's almost too hard to believe. He can't tell if she's ashamed to be showing this much emotion now, or that she let herself crack in the first place. 

____

Tentatively, he reaches up and wipes some of her tears away with his thumb. 2B glances up at him, trying to gauge what he's thinking, but he's always been better at hiding himself than she was. Even without his blindfold, he's impossible for her to read. Yet here she sits like an open book. Normally she hates feeling this open, but she's too exhausted to even try and put up a façade. More than anything, however, she's just happy Nines is okay.

____

9S rests his forehead on hers. They're both a mess, they both need repairs. It's illogical to sit here in the open while wounded and exhausted. But neither of them want to move. They sit in the grass and rubble, breathing in sync, taking in the fact that they both survived. Together. 

____

They might not be so lucky next time.

____

In time, with a little help from their Pods, 9S helps 2B to her feet. She can barely stand on her own, so he shoulders some her weight by pulling her good arm over his shoulder. It's hard for him to move properly too, but 2B is the priority. He'll push through for her.

____

"Come on. Let's go home."

____

**Author's Note:**

> Alternative title: 2B briefly goes postal  
> In Progress working title: Toobs fucking obliterates some poor dude's face and her own goddamn hand
> 
> Man the words were goin so I made the words go. It's like 3 in the morning leave me be.


End file.
